Hundreds of Students Beds Planned for Canterbury

Plans have been drawn up to create a 150-bed student accommodation block located on the city's ring road on the site of a former school.

The proposed development forms the next phase of student housing in Rhodaus Town, with the first being the recently launched 540-bed Palamon Court scheme. The newly launched scheme will be managed by CRM Students and is due to accept its first students this month.

The latest plans call for the demolition of the St Mary Bredin School building, however this has raised concerns with critics weary of tearing down a piece of history.

In response, architects behind the plans argued the city was in desperate need of more student accommodation to reduce the need for houses in multiple occupancy. It's hoped that by building purpose-built accommodation, houses can be released back into the wider residential market.

Commenting on the plans, architects Guy Hollaway, said: "To deal with the incredibly high demand in housing, the government has set extraordinary housing figures. There is huge demand on green belt because we're not addressing the HMO issue.

"If you can build high-quality student accommodation within the city, where the students want to be and can live for the whole of their degree, we can then allow the HMOs to be released."

A public consultation is due on the plans with drop in events being held at Palamon Court later this week.